Mid-market firm Change more than quadrupled its money selling Republic, but buyout giant TPG has not been so successful during its ownership, having twice been forced to pump cash into the business to keep it a going concern.

E&Y’s head of corporate restructuring Hunter Kelly said Republic had suffered from a “very sudden and rapid decline in sales in late January”.

He said, “The impact on cash flows has resulted in the business being unable to continue to operate outside of an insolvency process. Unfortunately, it has been necessary to make 150 employees at the head office in Leeds redundant.”

TPG has added 16 stores to Republic since taking over the firm, bringing its total number of outlets to 121.

The business is the latest in a string of UK high street names to hit trouble since Christmas, including music and entertainment store HMV, home movie rental company Blockbuster and camera business Jessops.